Shearer Says: “I expect Mourinho to frustrate Spurs this weekend”

Goalscoring great previews the big game

Spurs are now the second favourites for the title, but I still think Manchester United are in there with them as the biggest threat to Manchester City this season. 

Jose Mourinho went public with his criticism of his players last weekend after the defeat at Huddersfield, and I didn’t have an issue with that; he was talking about the whole team and not singling out individual players.

I don’t think they can have any complaints; they were outfought and at times looked very poor.

They gave him the perfect response in the EFL Cup this week and they’ve now got to give him another one this weekend in the game against Spurs.

Mourinho won’t change

The spotlight has been on Man United in recent weeks, with defensive performances against Liverpool and Benfica, but I don’t expect them to play any differently this weekend against Tottenham, even at Old Trafford. 

I expect United to try and frustrate Spurs by sitting deep and try to play on the break, similar to how they played at Anfield, as they know that if they try and take Tottenham on with open football, then they could easily get beaten. 

But I wouldn’t rule Manchester United out of the title race just yet, Mourinho won two trophies last season and it wouldn’t surprise me if he won another one this season, and for all the talk of negative football, at the end of the day trophies are what count for most fans.

There’s no doubt that Tottenham can go there and win, we’ve seen them go to Real Madrid recently and get a positive result with a great performance.

To lose Harry Kane would be a blow, but even without him they have the players to punish United if given the time and space to, and Mourinho will be trying his best to nullify them.

Search for silverware

Tottenham have now got to make that final step and win something.

They threw away one great chance of winning a trophy this week against West Ham and they have to go out and win something soon.

The EFL Cup was a great chance to do that this season, possibly the best, but that’s now gone.

They’ve got a young, talented squad full of potential with a great young manager in Mauricio Pochettino and they are a threat to Manchester City this season, but they need to cut out the silly defeats.